At the beginning of the show, when they are still in the zoo, the animals are getting ready for the field trip kids to arrive so they can show off their fabulousness. They were acting like they were going to be in a big rock show and the kids were acting like the animals were celebrities, so that was pretty funny and I think that was a great way to kick off the show. A little later, Marty sang a song, "Wild and Free," about how he wanted to go out into the wild and that that was where he belonged. He sang this on his 13th birthday, when he was having his midlife crisis, which is hilarious because it seemed like a combination of adolescence and a midlife zebra crisis. I thought there were really nice vocals for this song and the performer made it a pretty moving song, even while wearing a zebra costume (costumes by Jesus Perez). I've never seen that before. I also think "I Like to Move It," led by King Julien (Holland), is definitely a very catchy song. I thought it was a fun performances because they had great lemur puppets (designed by Sarah Ross) that really resembled the characters. It was a lot of fun to get up at the end and see a lot of kids dancing along.
My favorite character in the movie was Gloria, so it was really fun to see her portrayed live on stage. The costume was so fabulous--I've never seen a more dazzling belly button! I wish she had gotten her own song, because you could tell she had a great voice. I actually didn't like the penguins in the movie much, but I really liked them here. I liked the whole secret agent schtick that they were doing, and I liked how you could see the penguins' emotions through the actors. I think it was a good idea to use puppets for the penguins and lemurs, but it was good they didn't hide the actors' faces because then you still got to see the nuances of their performances, which I think was a nice touch.
Even though this show is a lot of fun, it had some questionable things about it. It feels like this show is saying that animals are better off in zoos, which is something a lot of people don't agree with. So you should be prepared to talk to your kids about that after the show. I feel like Madagascar was a movie I watched because everyone was watching it, and at the time, when I was four or five, I didn't take in the message of the story. But now that I do, I'm troubled by a few things, like how it seems to be saying animals are better off in a zoo, and how the moral "don't eat your friends" is pretty obvious, and how tragic the love story will be between a giraffe and a hippo because they are two different species. It is also troubling that carnivores are shamed for just going with the circle of life. Steak is basically the same thing as eating your friends, if your friends are animals, so it is not really that much better. Alex's steaks might be somebody else's friend, but you can't really make a Lion a vegetarian, though at the end it seems like he might become a pescatarian.
People who would like this show are people who like and ballad-singing zebras, potentially pescatarian lions, and dazzling belly buttons. I think there are a lot of kids who would really like this show and teenagers who will find it nostalgic. It had fun costumes and puppets, and a lot of the performers were really great.
Photos: Liz Lauren
There were two juggling acts. One was with hands and one was with feet; one was with clubs and one was with soccer balls. The Football Dance (Laura Biondo and Abou Traoré) was a duet where they were doing soccer tricks, balancing the ball on their foot or their knee and and tossing it in the air. I thought it was really awesome because they used a practical thing and turned it into something mesmerizing and fun to watch. The performers were really into it and acknowledging the other when they would do something impressive. The more traditional juggling (Rudolf Janecek) was with these shiny silver clubs. I have never seen juggling so fast. You couldn't even track one. It was crazy. He did so many amazing tricks; it was so hypnotizing to watch. Whenever he would do anything impressive or when you were scared for him because he was doing complex tricks, you would get this jolt of energy when he got it right. I felt so connected to the performance, that when something went right it felt like a personal victory!
Water was a very big theme in the show. The clown was trying to get it and it was worked into lots of the different acts. The clown would keep getting rained on or see a pool of water and try to fill up his canteen, but the word hated him, so he couldn't get any in his canteen. I wanted to keep telling him, stop being so excited about the presence of water and just get some because it is going to disappear in thirty seconds. It was kind of frustrating but really hilarious. He was so clueless to the pattern of things. It was not the kind of clown humor that was just somebody falling down for a laugh. He would prepare for so long to get in the pool, but by the time he was ready to get into the pool, it was gone. Also, everything was like a dad joke to him; he would really enjoy his own jokes. The rain was first introduced with the Trapeze (Enya White) and Cyr Wheel (Angelica Bongiovonni) act when it started raining and the performers would do their tricks in the water and it was beautiful and glorious to watch. They had moments where they would come together and moments where they would move apart, and it was beautiful. There was also an aerial straps act, where a demigod (Benjamin Courtenay) befriends a jaguar (puppeteers Gerardo Ballester Franzoni, Biondo, and Emmanuel Cyr; puppet designer Max Humphries) and performs this act above and in the water, flipping around so his long hair sprays rings around him. It was really captivating and awe-inspiring.
There were three larger group acts that I especially enjoyed. Adagio was an act where there were three men (Anton Glazkov, Krzystof Holowenko, and Grzegorz Piotr Ros) who were pursuing this lady (Kelly McDonald) at a jazz club. They would toss her from person to person, and they would lift her, and she would do flips in the air and land on a piano. It was really graceful. It was amazing because it was so seamless. Everything fit together so perfectly, and it seemed effortless. Masts and Poles was a dance that was performed by men and women (McDonald, Stéphane Beauregard, Dominic Cruz, Devin Henderson, Marta Henderson, and Maya Kesselman) and it was really cool. I was scared for their heads when they would slide down and their heads would almost touch the bottom, but perfectly not. It seemed so perilous and it was really terrifying but gorgeous to watch. At the very beginning of the show they had hoop diving with these people (Beauregard, Cruz, D. Hendersen, M. Hendersen, Michael Hottier, Kesselman, and Ian Vazquez) in beautiful hummingbird costumes (designed by Giovanna Buzzi). They would flip through these hoops, do backflips, and jump off of people's hands--all on a moving treadmill. They would sometimes do two-person jumps, which was really terrifying. The anticipation was terrible, but in a good way.
People who would like this show are people who like mesmerizing circus, hummingbird hoop tricks, and water. I think that people should definitely go see this show. It is so much fun to experience. The performers are amazing and it is such a crazy fun show.
Photos: Matt Beard © 2017 Cirque du Soleil
This play shows you how it is hard to live and how hard it is for anyone to help you, but there are a lot of people that will try to help you. That is something that counts, because it shows that even though they can't always help you, they want to be there for you. That is what made this play so moving. Tray's grandpa, Dex (Darren Jones), really tries to help him out by helping raise Tray's child, but he can't always be there for him. Once he lost almost everything he had, he felt like he was no use to Tray anymore. I think he could have been a lot of use to Tray, even without his resources, but I do understand why he felt like he had to leave. But he wasn't only useful to Tray because he had a house; his being there was useful and his advice was useful, but he gets discouraged because he feels like the system is after his whole family and he doesn't know how to protect them anymore. It is so terrible to think about people feeling helpless because of the power of the judicial system, which will take most of what you have if you give in and if you try to fight back they might take everything you have. Then after you have served your sentence, you get out and you are supposed to be a new person and live a new life, but they don't let you do that either. There is some hope at the end because you see that Tray and the grandpa find a home in each other and his daughter Mica (Martasia Jones). But you are still furious at the world because even though this is a play, there are real people that have to deal with this system. There are other people that want to help Tray, and I think, in the end, they do at least something to help, even if they can't really overcome the powers of the system. Gina (Ashley J. Hicks) becomes a lawyer and tries to help Tray to the best of her ability. She has a full time job, but says he can call her any time. She gets him a job, but she can't change the judicial system or what has already happened. Tray's cousin Dubby (Gregory Fenner) is always there for Tray and lets him move into his house after Tray gets out of jail. He is really supportive and nice, but he can't take care of him forever. Tray has to fend for himself, so Dubby can live his young adult life. Tray should also be able to live his young adult life, but small mistakes with huge consequences get in his way.
There were many bittersweet moments because all the sweet moments had bitterness because they are so real. It is kind of like real life because often moments are not actually fully good because there is sometimes a dark side to a lot of situations. Nakeesha (Martasia Jones), the mother of Tray's child, was giving Tray hope that they still could have a family. The sweet part is that they really seem to like each other and they have this cute flirtatious thing they do. But it was very sad because at the exact same party where that happens, everything falls apart even though everything seemed so good a minute ago. Later, Tray has an encounter with the grandpa, who he hasn't seen in years and years. He gets him Chinese food, which is really sweet, and they talk about what has been happening. The reunion is really nice to see, except you suspect the grandpa is never coming back. At the beginning of the show Tray and Dubby were sitting on the street drinking and talking, and it was really sweet, but then the cops (Darren Jones, Hicks, Martasia Jones, and Christian Castro) keep interrupting. It is really sweet because they are having a conversation and joking around. Then the cops show up and act like Tray and Dubby have just been holding up a bank. They are different cops each time, but they all think, "we have to stop and search these people innocently talking on the street." Throughout the whole play the system keeps ruining everything for Tray, his relationships and his ability to get a job. The play starts with disrupting a conversation between cousins and goes on to taking a man away from his whole life. Throughout this play things escalate step by step from being searched on the street to being put away for many years in prison.
It might be hard to believe, because it was such a sad show, but there were some funny moments. One of my favorites was when Dubby, Gina, and Tray were all in a dorm room and they got these Double Stuf Oreos and they started to eat them. Well, Gina did. But Dubby just started licking the cream out of them. It was so funny because Gina kept staring at him like he was crazy. And he'd look back at her like, what's the problem? I thought it was hilarious because it showed how high they both were and showed you the dynamics of the relationship. There is another funny moment, that was also a little bit sad, when Dubby is visiting Tray in prison and they are reminiscing about their childhood and how they went to the circus and they got cotton candy. Tray kept crying because when he would eat it, it would disappear in his mouth. That was funny, cute, and sad all at the same time. You do stuff when you are a kid that you can't understand later, so it's funny when you look back on it. It was a sweet, genuine, and hilarious moment. I saw this as a bit of a metaphor too. It was kind of saying that Tray gets good and sweet things in his life, but they keep disappearing.
People who would like this show are people who like meaningful stories, bittersweet moments, and eating the cream out of Oreos. I think that people should definitely, definitely go see this show. It is beautiful and heartbreaking with a touch of humor and a little bit of hope. The acting was great and I loved it.
Photos: Scott Dray
Charlotte has a lot of meaningful relationships in this show; some are friendships and some are romantic. The overall most important relationship is the one that she has with herself. Her closest friendship that she had was with Kathy (Aja Wiltshire). I really liked the song that Kathy sang, "Remember Me" about how she wanted Charlotte to remember her. It was really sad because she had just been to the doctor and she had a lump and she was worried about what it could be. I think the reason it was so sad was because she was worried that no one would remember her except for Charlotte. It is kind of bittersweet because she knows that her best friend will remember her, even though she isn't famous and hasn't made a huge mark on the world, like the carvings she saw in Peru. There is another character named Cinder (Teressa LaGamba) who is a drug addict and also the first friend that Charlotte has in New York. They are not really friends because they want to be friends; they are friends because they live together. "It's a Sign" shows us that Cinder sees the world as something that can be predicted according to her own ideas. She never assesses the situation before she flips out. That means she probably won't keep a friendship for very long, and you see that in "Poor Charlotte," which is basically Cinder saying how much Charlotte has wronged her because she stepped on her towel. It shows that their friendship wasn't really meant to be; maybe the sign was that if you walk in on your roommate snorting cocaine the first time you meet, it probably isn't going to work out. "It's a Sign" was sung so amazingly; it was mesmerizing and slightly terrifying because you are so scared for Charlotte and her life in this house. Charlotte also had a male best friend whose name was Marco (Adam Fane) who sang a song called "Little Fish" (roll credits) that was basically about giving her and himself some comforting words, which are about how little fish should stick together and keep moving. If you have a bunch of tiny fish and you are all sticking together, you might eventually be okay in the end. This song is kind of lullaby-ish because it is supposed to be a comfort song; everyone is looking out for each other and that is beautiful. It doesn't mean that everything is ok, but there is a possibility that everything could be. It is like an adult "Mockingbird" lullaby with actual problems, not just breaking a looking glass or if a mockingbird won't sing.
She also had three very different relationships: one made her feel scared, one made her feel good but guilty, and one made her feel worthless. Her last "romance" that we see is with her boss, Mr. Bunder (Carl Herzog), who she wasn't really interested in, but he was definitely pretty interested in her. He took her out to celebrate the anniversary of his ex-wife's death, which I think is a really morbid thing to do, even if she wasn't a very good wife. The song was very Frank-Sinatra-inspired. But whenever I think of Frank Sinatra now, I think of Panic! At the Disco, so it was a very nice Death-of-a-Bachelor tribute. I think it was a really good song and had some very nice light cymbals. I really loved that there was a live band (Danielson, Charlotte Rivard-Hoster, Mike Matlock, Kyle McCullough, Jake Saleh, and Scott Simon); it really immerses you in the show and it makes you notice things you might not notice if you couldn't see the musicians. Mr. Bunder said some pretty disturbing things, but the song was very catchy, like a lot of popular songs. It scares her because she is not sure how to turn her boss down because he is her boss. John Paul (Darren Patin when I saw it, usually Curtis Bannister) was Kathy's boyfriend that Charlotte was sort of going out with, which is not the best thing to do to your best friend in my opinion. She likes John Paul because all the ladies want him and he likes her. John Paul was a player, so whenever Charlotte would step away for a minute, he would immediately start dancing with another woman. I thought the dancing was really good; it was very sensual, which is why Charlotte got so uncomfortable being out with her friend's boyfriend. Robert (Jeff Meyer) was the boyfriend she was with before she came to New York who made her leave where she was. He was not very good to her, especially when it came to her writing. Throughout the musical, whenever she was doubting herself, he would be the voice of that. He would tell her that she wasn't good enough--not just in her imagination but in their relationship. Just because they had a good time dancing doesn't mean he was good for her. So she has to find herself by herself.
She finds herself by herself with a little help from Anne Frank (Kyrie Courter). She has a dream about the historical figure, in the song "Flotsam," and Anne helps her see how some bits of this and some bits of that are good and that things that seem useless can actually be beautiful when you look at them all together. I think it is a very inspiring song because it is very true. And hearing Anne Frank tell you this might help it to be more meaningful. Charlotte had a very powerful song called "Simple Creature" at the end about how all she wanted was to get through life. She talks about how she knows what she wants now, how she can make decisions, and how she really wants lunch. I think that is definitely a good start for her, because now she knows what she wants other than a cigarette. I think that is a beautiful ending because it is not about her solving all her problems; it is about how even the smallest thing is a start. It connects to "Flotsam" because it doesn't seem important in "Simple Creature" that she wants to eat lunch, but it is a small thing that she's decided on her own that can join with other good decisions to help her be herself.
People who would like this show are people who like Anne Frank giving you advice, light cymbals, and lunch. I think that people should go see this show. It's a really powerful story with good actors and songs. I really liked it!
Photos: Michael Brosilow
In a show called The Wayward Women, with a mostly female cast, I was hoping it would be more feminist than it was. Even though it had a largely female cast, they mostly did not portray women as being interested in anything other than men. The plot was following men, the women were obsessed with men, and even though the women are in power, it doesn't seem to be a very well-run society. People were getting into fights all the time and no one seemed to like each other very much. I am not saying it is not okay for women to like men; all I'm saying is that if you are writing a show about women you want to not talk so much about men.
There were lots of elements that reminded me of Shakespeare. They really tried to emulate Twelfth Night. They had a Sir-Toby-Belch-like character, Grendela, who is drunk all the time and plants a letter for Anu, who is a little like Malvolio but less conceited and seems smarter until she falls for Grendela's trick. You have cross-dressing (Viola and Julian), pirates (Antonio and Flachel), and songs like Feste sings are sung by Pinne. They seemed to be just borrowing the ideas more than exploring the ideas of Twelfth Night. It was interesting to discover all the similarities, but it would have been fun if it was sometimes more of a parody or illuminated different aspects of Twelfth Night you hadn't noticed before.
My three favorite characters were Grendela, Penti Celia, and Dotara, who were all Amazons. Grendela is very impulsive and often drunk. Whenever she sees anything she wants, she tries to go and get it. She was funny and sort of stereotypical but in a funny way where they acknowledged she was a stereotype of a woman who doesn't have traditional morals. Penti Celia is the duchess and wants to keep her kingdom in order, but she doesn't always do the best job. She seemed very poised and refined, which I think was a really good counterpoint to the rest of the women in the show. Dotara was the right-hand woman of Penti Celia. She helped her make all her decisions. Everyone was sort of scared of her, but she also seemed sweet. I thought it was funny how she treated Cordelius like a child and Cordelius didn't like it very much because he wasn't used to that because be was so beloved by everyone else. I think these three female characters were my favorites because the performers really seemed to know what they were saying and what their characters' motivations were.
People who would like this show are people who like borrowing from Shakespeare, singing squires, and drunken dames. I think this is a very interesting concept for a show. It had some good elements, and it was fun to discover the different characters and plot points taken from Shakespeare plays.
Photos: Traveling Lemur Productions
Nick Bottom really seemed to hate Shakespeare. He even sang a song--with a reprise!--about how much he hated him, with the very original title, "God, I Hate Shakespeare." He was saying how much he hated Shakespeare and everyone else in his theater troupe--Francis Flute (Patrick John Moran), Peter Quince (Con O'Shea-Creal), Tom Snout (Kyle Nicholas Anderson), Yorick (Daniel Beeman), Robin (Pierce Cassedy), Snug (Nick Rashad Burroughs)--and Nigel were horrified about how he could hate Shakespeare. Shakespeare is a superstar and Nick feels jealous because now that Shakespeare left their group, he is super famous. One of my favorite lines from this song was when Nick was talking about what people were like when Shakespeare walked into a room: "And they’re all “Oooh!” and he’s all “Stop” and they’re all “Yay” and I’m all “Blech.” It was so relatable because when you feel jealous you start not making quite as much sense and wishing people would shut up about how great the other person is. I really liked the song, "Hard to Be the Bard" which shows Shakespeare's perspective. It was funny and conceited at the same time. It showed how hard it was for Shakespeare to write anymore because it easier to be famous and the actual work is hard. And then he eventually breaks down in front of people because he didn't know they were there, but when he realizes it, he tries to cover it up and act like he hadn't done anything. The song was a really funny mix between David Bowie and someone conceited. My favorite lines were: "You're not even close, you remember that dammit, your play's gotta be in iambic pentameter! So you write down a word but it's not the right word, so you try a new word, but you hate the new word, and you need a good word, but you can't find the word." This was so relatable to me when writing reviews because sometimes you can't find the word and it's really frustrating...anxiety-provoking...it's hard (it's hard).
There was a song called "A Musical" that was just full of musical references which I appreciated for my nerdy self. Nostradamus is singing about how a musical is what they'll need to put the Bottom Brothers' theater company on the top. They referenced everything from Seussical to Rent. I loved the reference to A Chorus Line at the end where they all held up their "headsketches" in front of their faces. There was reference to Les Mis about how there is no talking and how they sing everything very slowly and stay on one note for a very long time so when they change you notice. (Imagine I just sang all that.) And Annie was probably the most obvious one; they literally got out buckets and started scrubbing the floor. It was hilarious to see people from the Renaissance scrubbing the floor and singing "It's a Hard Knock Life." It was so much fun to watch because everyone in the room was connecting over these references. It was just hilarious.
A lot of times in my reviews I write a paragraph about all my favorite funny moments. But this whole review is full of funny moments because the whole show is pretty comedic. So I'm just going to talk about funny moments that weren't in the last two paragraphs! One of my favorite characters was Brother Jeremiah. He was not very keen on his daughter Portia's relationship with Nigel because Nigel was a poet who wrote about love--because that is what poetry was in the Renaissance. Jeremiah was very funny because he was saying that he was against all of these "sinful" things and then he would accidentally make innuendos or show how he really felt about those things. It was so hilarious how he said "Come on, boys!" after every time he hinted but tried to cover up that he was gay. Omelette: The Musical! was so so hilarious. It was basically a musical about breakfast and every single musical ever and Hamlet. One of my favorite moments from this musical was when one of the eggs was still on stage and just popped out, seemingly innocent, and started belting "And I am Telling You" from Dreamgirls. It was so hilarious and perfectly timed that I needed to talk about it. It made me laugh so much.
People who would like this show are people who like musical references, belting eggs, and how hard it is to be the bard. I think that people should definitely go see this show. It is so much fun to watch and especially fun for big Shakespeare and musical nerds. I loved it!
Photos: Jeremy Daniel
The set (by Collette Pollard) I think was absolutely gorgeously gross, which was perfect for the show. It looked exactly like a starter home, but the thing was it looked like a starter home mixed with dirty laundry and the aftermath of a pride parade. The aesthetic of the play is terrifying realistic mixed with fancy theater. There is a giant fancy curtain which they raise to show the cluttered mess. It looks so refined, and then they reveal what is on the other side of the curtain. But once the act break ends, the curtain comes up and the stage looks different again. But even though things have changed, that doesn't mean things aren't going to fall apart. The family seems like it was just a normal family until the father had his stroke. But you find out that there was always a mess behind the curtain that is the family. No one really saw it until the person everyone was scared of was debilitated.
I became very invested in the characters because they were like real people; they were messed up like real people. But sometimes they were so messed up it was funny. It kind of makes you feel bad for laughing, but you do anyway. People are going to laugh in different places depending on what their experience with their families has been. Sometimes people will laugh at things that they recognize. Sometimes they will laugh at things because they are uncomfortable and don't know what to do. It is such a crazy mix. I think this show is supposed to make you uncomfortable and not really know what to laugh at. The mother would spray the father with water whenever he would do something she didn't like. You spray water on your pet when they do something you don't want them to do. When she did the spraying in a passive way, it was funnier to me because she seemed not to care and it was less aggressive, but when she took the time to look at him, it was less funny because it seemed more threatening. There was also another moment that was like that where Paige kept turning on the blender even though it made Isaac puke because of what had happened when he was at war. It is funny because she's doing it just to experiment and find out if that is what is making him puke, which is terrible, but the absurdity of the whole situation made it funny. I think that the writer did a great job at making us laugh and cry and cringe all at the same time.
This play shows you that this family isn't perfect, they aren't even good, but everyone in it is so compelled by the idea of family and how to make it what they want. Isaac, when he comes home, is expecting the family he remembers, but when he gets back everything is different. When he realizes that everything is different, he tries to make it what he wants, which is his father in charge again. It wouldn't make everything okay, but Isaac wants it because that is what he remembers. That is what his normal is. We know what the father used to want. He wanted everything in order and to have everything his way. And now he seems to be enjoying wearing a dress, having make-up put on, and wearing wigs. He seems comfortable being more classically feminine. But then when his son comes home and wants him to be a "man," he remembers who he used to be. He used to be an ultra-masculine guy who was a jerk. I think it is kind of sad because he doesn't seem to entirely want to go back. But he still does because he thinks that is what men are supposed to do. Max is also kind of persuaded by hir brother to behave in more of an ultra-masculine way. Hir family dynamic shifts around all the time. Hir father used to be in charge. Then hir mother was in charge and then hir brother came home and tried to change the dynamic back to what it was at first. You would think that as a non-binary person, Max would not like the new hyper-masculine structure of the family that is largely run by male power. But it is appealing to hir because ze definitely didn't want to be a girl anymore. I can't blame hir because it is hard to be a girl, especially a girl in this specific family structure. Paige's ideal family structure is a smart family that is not run by her husband and is perfectly open and progressive. But what she actually does when she is in charge is be abusive and aggressive whenever she doesn't get what she desires. She doesn't really want this progressive homeschooling family that she has created as much as she wants the opposite of what her husband wants. Basically what she wants is revenge.
There's a scene where they are fussing over the air conditioning, and it is between the three people (Arnold, Paige, and Isaac) who want to run the family. I think this is a metaphor. The air conditioner is kind of the house and the whole family. They all get into a fight without any words while they glare at each other while they do what they want. The air conditioner had always been a prominent issue in the show, so it is a great a metaphor for the family and how they feel like there can only be one person who truly runs the family. What happens to air conditioner in the end is what happens to the family.
People who would like this show are people who like plays about messed-up family dynamics, air conditioning metaphors, and blender experiments. I think this is a really sad but powerful story. I really enjoyed it and think everyone should get to experience it.
Photos: Michael Brosilow
